Archive for April, 2012

Conditions should be slowly improving today (Sunday) but an easterly wind off the water and left over cloudiness will keep it on the cool side. There was a period of light rain Saturday afternoon and there was also a line of quick moving thundershowers that moved through some parts of Hampton Roads in the early morning hours Sunday morning. Monday should be a decent day with more sunshine. A warm front will be approaching and so cloudiness will move back into the region. A weak cold front should produce a shower or thunderstorm on Tuesday in some spots. Warmer weather seems likely later in the week. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

First, I want to mention that last Sunday’s storm system brought over two inches of much needed rainfall to my neighborhood. And it also brought a spring snowstorm to parts of the Northeast. It’s strange how there was an early season snowstorm on Halloween in parts of the Northeast, very little snow for most of the winter and then they get a late season snowstorm, which mostly affected the highest elevations of New York state, Pennsylvania, and the New England states… A quasi-stationary frontal boundary right now to our south will cause clouds to dominate this weekend. A weak low pressure system is expected to ride along the front possibly bringing some showers tonight and early Sunday. The highest chances of rain are just north of Hampton Roads. However, even there, whatever rain falls should be on the light side. Winds will be mostly out of the east which will keep us seasonably cool and with limited sunshine, temperatures will not be able to rise that much. On Sunday, the front will sink further south behind the low that will be moving offshore. Skies should be partly sunny on Monday A warm up is expected next week with just a low chance of showers or thunderstorms in spots. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

As predicted, a low pressure system is moving up the Eastern Seaboard and will begin to intensify quite rapidly. This will bring a soaking rain to many areas including Hampton Roads. It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen a system like this that has the potential to bring a widespread heavy precipitation event to the East Coast. I know it’s the weekend, but we really need this rainfall as much of the area has been experiencing a drought. This low pressure system has many characteristics of a winter storm. Up to 16 inches of snow may fall in the higher elevations of PA and NY. Winds will also become a factor as the storm intensifies, especially for areas up to our north. The combination of strong winds, heavy wet snow, and trees that have leaves on them may cause power outages in those areas that receive the heaviest wet snow. For our area, it will just be a wet and eventually breezy day with rainfall of varying intensity. Several factors are coming together to cause this storm to intensify. Upper level energy meeting up with the surface low pressure system later today will be the main ingredient that will cause the rapid intensification. As the low slowly pulls away on Monday, our winds will be mostly out of the west and could be quite gusty. The low will pull cool air down out of Canada so no major warm ups are expected anytime soon. Later in the week another cold front may bring us a round of showers/thunderstorms. That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a widespread soaking rain across the Hampton Roads region. Parts of our area are classified in a moderate drought so we could really use the rainfall. Well, if the current forecast holds, we may receive some very beneficial rainfall on Sunday as a very wet weather system moves up the East Coast. A cold front that is approaching the coast will act as the pathway for the storm system as the front becomes stationary. The low pressure system is expected to intensify as it moves up the coast possibly becoming like a nor’easter for the New England states. Very heavy rainfall is likely up there. In the meantime, Saturday doesn’t look too bad. There is only a very slight chance of rain on Saturday so if you have any yard work to do, Saturday is the day to do it. Saturday will also be the warmest day for a while. I’ll have more on the extended forecast in my Sunday morning post.

As the high pressure system that brought the unseasonably cool conditions to Hampton Roads moves off the Southeast Coast, the return flow of air will be from the southwest. This wind direction will bring in warmer air over the weekend. Temperatures will most likely be above normal on Sunday and Monday. No significant rainfall is expected through Tuesday which is not good news. Although Southeast Virginia is not officially in a drought, increasingly dry conditions are creating problems for fire fighters due to the increased chances of wild fires and forest fires. Low humidity levels combined with windy conditions have already caused problems in the western part of Virginia… The national weather headline for today (Saturday) will most likely be the severe weather that is expected to break out from Texas to Minnesota. Due to the changing wind directions with height, conditions will be ideal for tornadoes in that part of the country. Did you check out the pictures of lightning hitting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco? That is an amazing sight. The rainy season in California will soon be ending. Our next chance of rain will not come until the middle of next week. That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and have a great day.